Rangemaster - My first build!

[dropanchor812]

Hi guys, so I'm brand spanking new to the board and I just completed my first build so I thought I'd show it off and get any feedback you all may have.  This ain't no crazy hard Multiplex or whatever, but I'm proud of it.  I first need to thank ChromeSphere for royally hooking me up.  He's the best and you should buy anything he sells... ever... because he's awesome.

The board is an etched version of Madbean's Rangemaster board.  My soldering job is absolutely atrocious and I'm glad you can't see it very well in the pictures.  I used one of ChromeSphere's etched power inverters so it can run off an external power source.  All the parts are pretty run-o-the-mill stuff, except the transistor which is one of the NOS European ones that ChromeSphere was peddlin' a while back.  So that adds "mojo", right? 

It sounds fantastic, but I used a 22n cap for the fat switch, which I'm not a huge fan of.  Since I socketed darn near everything I'm going to mess around with the values a bit to figure out what's good for me.

Feel free to tell me what I did wrong because I'd love some constructive criticism.  I bought one of those ROG Supreaux Deux boards from OftenFX and I'm looking forward to putting it together real soon.  Thanks!

[thatirishsob]

Damn good job man, especially for a first build!

[DutchMF]

Dude! Welcome and congrats! You have every reason to be proud, that is one fine first build. It sure does feel like doing more, doesn't it?  And yes, Chromespheres stuff rules, he really knows what he's selling and is a nice dude as well, you could do worse then buying some mojo stuff from him. Hope to see some more of your builds in the future, keep it up!

Paul

[jimilee]

Righteous build man man! Welcome to your new addiction!

[Vallhagen]

Nothings like the first time, right;)

Great first build. Not much to critisize there. If it sounds good, its good:) Maybe a hint for future development: No, you dont have to socket "everything". Get yourself a breadboard and play around with different components before you box'em. Great for learning stuff and realize your own (future) ideas too.

Cheers!

[billstein]

Congrats man. Great looking first build.

[pryde]

Excellent looking really, great job on a first build.

OK, you asked for it 

Here is what I like: great enclosure choice and knob. the silver hardware and red LED set it off nicely. The component leads are laid out straight with nice parallel alignment, good work! Also, adding insulation to the transistor leads is a nice touch.

Cons: wiring is longer than it needs to be (very common), the little inverter board is kinda "stuck" in there. some people mount it on the side to make it more discrete, or position it more symetrical (below the 3pdt swtich for example) to tighten everything up.

OK then? Anyway, this is much nicer than my first build(s) so I think: "you gotta knack for this kid" 

[midwayfair]

Congrats, and welcome to the hobby addiction hobby!

Your soldering will improve, but if you want to get better in a hurry, go buy some bare stranded wire, and make yourself a mesh.
_______
_|__|__|
_|__|__|
_|__|__|

You can solder the intersections to your heart's content and learn precisely how much time it takes for your soldering iron to heat the components for soldering etc.

[alanp]

Rangemasters sound great!

This hobby is hugely addictive, though. Especially when you start with a really good 'un like that!

[stevie1556]

Great first build there! Well done!

You're wiring is so much better then my early build pedals! Don't worry too much about your soldering, you will get better over time, and as long as there is no solder bridges or cold joints, then it's fine.

Sent from my thumbs using Tapatalk!

[jubal81]

Nice job! It's a special feeling the first time you play through something you build yourself. Congrats!

[TreeSlayer]

great job, Bubba! you definitely have a knack for this, considering my first four builds were fails, bu I never gave up! it turned out my soldering "method" sucked. try Midwayfair's idea for practicing your soldering. it's a great idea. and yes, Paul (Chromosphere) is a great guy, and he'll never steer ya wrong, at least not intentionally. welcome, and enjoy your new addiction. if you need anything, just holler!

Layton

[fendman]

Nothings like the first time, right;)

Great first build. Not much to critisize there. If it sounds good, its good:) Maybe a hint for future development: No, you dont have to socket "everything". Get yourself a breadboard and play around with different components before you box'em. Great for learning stuff and realize your own (future) ideas too.

Cheers!

Welcome to the forum, loved your first build, and this is great advice from Vallhagen...Breadboards are so cheap, and like he says you can play around with different values and when it sounds right  you can solder those guys in for good.

Hope you enjoy   this really addictive hobby, you have a lot of great talented people here at Madbeans who will give you encouragement, if you are not sure about something.... ASK  somebody is always willing to help.

Enjoy

Mike

[dropanchor812]

Thanks for all the kind words!  Unfortunately, since I posted this the pedal has developed a problem.  It's doing this weird shorting out sort of thing where when I am about to hit a chord or note hard it just fizzes out.  It seems it's kind of taken on a more noisy character too.  The pedal is silent, but the guitar sounds a little funny through it.  I will be opening it back sometime within the next few days.  Any help is appreciated!

Oh, and I should mention that this is my first successful build.  I had a green ringer on vero that just didn't work at all and I had no idea where to start in troubleshooting it.  The rangemaster also had a completely different wiring switch and jacks at one point, but my solder joints were really awful and there was a serious grounding problem going on.  I salvaged the pcbs and redid everything with the breakout board... All of that to say, it hasn't been a walk in the park!

-Russ

[diablochris6]

Looks good!  Can't wait to see what else you come up with!